mattress

Well, who knew that buying a new mattress would make the world a better place for so many?

Mr. has been having recurring back pain on and off for months. However, we noticed that during our recent trip, his back started feeling better. So, we thought maybe our mattress needed changing. Yes, admittedly, we have been sleeping on it for over eight years. And yes, I kind of feel like I have to brace myself so that I don't roll off of the edge. The middle is still nice and firm though… ahem. While we're not completely sure the old mattress is the source of his back issues, I feel pretty confident a new one couldn't hurt.

And so we went to a near-by mattress shop today and picked one out. We haggled, but didn't put too much effort into it. We left with the uneasy feeling that maybe we paid too much. But they agreed to deliver for free. Yep. We probably paid too much.

However, while we were there I started checking out options for a friend who needs a small mat for a baby bed. I discussed my findings with her and I think we have a good solution. So her day was improved by our decision to get a new mattress.

Anyway, when our big purchase arrived at the house we immediately swapped it out with the old one. Leaning the old one against one wall to await our evening trip out to the garbage, we put sheets on the new one and tested it out. Ahhhh. It feels WONDERFUL.

The cat, too, was quite excited by the new arrival. First of all she sniffed the new mattress all over, and attacked the sheets as we re-made the bed. Then she found the old one leaning against the wall. She proceeded to lie in wait in the gap between the wall and the bottom of the mattress, and pounce at us from behind it whenever we walked by. I teased her by running from one end, then to the other end, and she zipped back and forth with me, having a GREAT time. When she tired of that game, she scaled the old mattress to the highest point—where it met the wall—and gazed down on the world from her new perch.

(Now she's zonked out on a throw rug, exhausted from all her endeavors.)

And finally, after supper we worked together to drag the mattress the 100 yards to the big dumpster near our house. We actually expected to give it to the homeless people who have taken up residence in the park that lies between our house and the dumpster. But we didn't even make it 5 yards from our front door.

The young guys who live next to us—they polish cars for a living—saw us struggling with our bulky load and asked us if we were throwing it away. We said we were going to give it away and they immediately asked for it. We agreed and they were ecstatic. With much squeezing and patting and testing of the old chunk of foam, they pronounced it a fine mattress. One guys said, "It's a new one!" We assured him it was over eight years old. "Yeah, but it's still good." The only problem: they all sleep on twin sized cots, and the mattress was king size. Unfazed, they were sure they could cut it down and cushion a few cots with it.

Mr. commented as we went back up to our apartment, "Well, we intended to be good people [by giving the mattress to the homeless] and ended up being good neighbors instead."

It's nice to have one of those rare win/win/win/win situations. :-) We plan on resting easy tonight, for more reasons than one!